Chapter XI: CCT

"You've all lost your minds," Cardin grunted, stuffing another mace into his bag. He already had a pile going, and it rattled around each time he shifted.

"You're one to talk!" Across The Bucket where the others were planning, Ruby crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at him. "You just grabbed all the maces they had on that island! I know weapons are cool and all, but that's too much." She narrowed her silver eyes. "And why are you stuffing them all in one bag?"

Cardin smirked and flexed for the crew. "First, it's a workout. You don't get stronger by lazing around. Second, I'll have a backup in case my weapon fails me again."

"Does that really constitute doing all of this?" Ren asked tiredly. Cardin just turned back to his work. Laying on the ground were five more that he was determined to make fit. He really should have paid attention when his mom was fixing his packing for Beacon.

Ren decided it was a fruitless battle. He had a much more pressing case of insanity before him. They were, according to Blake, only an hour away from their target base. It wasn't a small one either. In the center of the sea, marked on their map, was a large drawing that stood out from the others. Hoping they would hear reason, Ren suggested that meant size and manpower. Jaune, being delusional, agreed and said that would reflect on what they might have. Although the task felt like herding Noras, sharing a look with Blake told him he wouldn't have to salvage this mission alone.

"Let's go over it again!" Jaune's eyes were set, deadly serious. His tone was that of a leader, calm and collected, but firm and unwavering. Pointing at the chart they had drawn, he traced the images they had drawn. It really did feel like they were planning for war. "Operation Get-Us-A-PlayBox cannot, and will not fail." Too bad it was over something like this.

"Ruby, you'll be our welcoming party. Meet the marines up front and give our facade. I'll leave the story up to you, but keep them there and keep them distracted for as long as you can. Blake, Neo, you're our stealth party. Wait for the distraction, go in, look around, take what you can. Ren, you're on watch. Go with Ruby and be ready to signal if there's an emergency. Cardin, you and I are back up. We wait here and if things go to shit, we rush in." Jaune looked around, meeting each and everyone of them. "Ready?"

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered. Neo did the same, but without any sound. Whether they liked it or not, this was happening. Ren was just thankful he was on damage control. That would have been his job anyways.

"Dude." Neptune stretched out the word, falling back onto the cot by the wall he had claimed. "I know we agreed to this without reading anything, but this is actually awesome."

Already laying down while resting his head on his hands and crossing his leg over his knee, Sun spoke without opening his eyes. "We agreed because we couldn't read any of it."

Flipping through the papers, Neptune chuckled. "Speak for yourself man. It looks pretty simple to me. It says that if we only attack other pirates," he flipped the page. Sun cracked one eye open to what Neptune had just 'read' was filled with dense text. "And we listen when the marines tell us to do something," another page just like the last. It was probably a word count of at least five hundred a page. "Then we can still be pirates, do what we want, and they won't arrest us!"

It was beginning to bug Sun. Propping himself up on one arm, he spoke calmly. "This is serious for you, isn't it? You're actually seeing that stuff and reading it?"

Neptune looked confused. "What do you mean? I — can you actually not? It's pretty clear to me." The pages fluttered as Neptune searched for some hidden thing that might be causing this.

After a moment, Sun got up and plopped himself next to Neptune. "Yeah. This all looks foreign to me. Not Vacuan, not Atlesian, not Mistralian, and not Valean. It's like some sort of language they have here that isn't used anywhere else."

"Then why can I read it?" Worry crept into his voice now that Neptune realized Sun wasn't joking around. "If it's some random stuff, why can I see what it says?"

"Your semblance?"

"No!" Neptune snapped. "You know what my semblance is, man. This — this has to be like magic or something."

"Hey, you act like your semblance doesn't exist half the time," Sun argued. "For all we know, the one time you touched water, you moved it and convinced yourself that was it."

Neptune shook his head, causing them to dive deeper into theories and arguments. Of everything in the world, Sun wished he had his scroll just so he could show Neptune random things and see what he could read. At least they had this. Without something to be focused on, it would be really boring.

The marine clutched at his chest and fell to his knees. Crushing the fabric in his palm, he keeled over, but caught himself with his other hand. Tears streamed down, flowing across his hung head and onto the floor below. Those around watched in sympathy and fear. No one deserved such a fate, but they could be next — they could be the person who made Ruby Rose cry.

She was not even a foot away, sniffling and shivering. A hiccup escaped her throat. As her teary eyes dipped down and darted to the next, small feet shuffled on the ground. Never daring to lift too high, they brought her to face her next victim. None had the will to stare long enough to realize her eyes weren't puffy or red. And if any did, her voice shattered those thoughts. "I-I understand. But — w-would you let me be a mawine? I just want to be like my mom. She was a hewo. Can I? Pwease?"

Another victim fell to the floor. Ren glanced to regard the hand grasping his pant leg. It was desperate. Blue pools stared up to him, pleading for their life. "S-save us! Please — make it stop!"

Ren used his semblance to take away all of his emotions. Like a statue, he stared the marine down. "How cruel of you all. To crush a young girl's dreams." The poor soul broke down into a sobbing mess, damned to their own actions. Ren was beginning to understand what Cardin meant the first time. What he saw was only a glimpse of Ruby's power, but this — this was the might of a tyrant.

"Pwease?" Ruby Rose fell another soldier. The mass of wailing men and women would have drowned any and all sound out, but no one dared cry over her.

"We can't!" One man held his ground. In the face of this herculean task, his knees shook and his hands trembled. "I'm sorry, but — but you have to be seventeen to join the marines!"

The longer Ruby stared, the more confidence he lost. He was no brave man standing against a great foe: he was another speck of dust in the wind against the gale that was puppy dog eyes. "I understand." Thus, like his brethren, he too caved beneath the might of Ruby.

"Don't think for a moment I trust you." Blake snapped, though trying to be hushed. "For some reason, Jaune trusts you, and I'll comply because of that. Don't mistake it for anything more."

Neo rolled her eyes, as if that was a given. Farther into the building, the corridors grew broader and less chaotic. There were sections where the walls gave way to open atriums: large metallic caverns where the walkways were held by wires. It felt more like a warehouse than a base, but Blake was aware that a place like this needed to be both storage and barracks.

More odd than Neo's nonchalance to her accusations were the marines rushing around. They stayed hidden, but once or twice it was unnecessary. In a situation they should have been caught in, the soldiers moved right on by them. "Go! Go! Front lobby needs our support!" They all shouted similar phrases as they passed by. Blake had suggested they go check on Ruby, but Neo had kept going. Not wanting to leave either of themselves alone, Blake followed and hoped that Ruby would be alright. Surely Ren could take care of her, and Jaune and Cardin were waiting as back up.

Thinking more on the topic, she was in the most danger. The marines might capture her friends, but Blake was the one walking around with a dangerous criminal. Thus came her big speech to the short woman.

Blake bristled slightly as her worries were brushed off, but what could she ask from the person she was pointing fingers at? Neo was content to lead the way, taking turns and going through doors as if she knew this place like the back of her hand. Despite her experience with stealth in the White Fang, it became reassuring to follow Neo's confident stride. That allowed her to take all her fears of being caught to fears of backstabbing. That was why —

"Hey, what are you two doing here?" Blake froze. It took a minute for the situation to fully set in. Somewhere, they had become so relaxed with their infiltration that it really wasn't that anymore. She and Neo were standing up straight, strolling through the halls at a brisk pace. Now, a younger marine, maybe a cleaning boy by the looks, was pointing a finger at them. With his scrawny demeanor, the two trained girls didn't feel intimidated enough to draw or even ready their weapons. Blake couldn't speak for Neo, but she was just searching for a way to contain the situation.

"Um, we —" Blake never got to finish.

The boy looked like he might explode in anger as he marched to them. His finger jammed at their feet. "Did you dip in the ocean or something? Did you not clean after an island? You're tracking sand all over my clean floors!"

Neo and Blake shared a glance. Neo reached into a pocket and produced a small bit of cheese. Blake blinked in confusion. For some reason, she felt fear. Then everything became a blur. If you asked her, it was such a great trauma that her brain removed it from her memory. The next thing she knew, the poor cleaning boy was on his knees, begging for Neo's forgiveness.

"Where could we find your best technology?" Blake tried asking him. Trying to recover herself, she needed a distraction.

"The weapons room is —"

Neo was reaching for more cheese, but Blake caught her arm. The boy looked horrified, then relieved. "We don't care about weapons," Blake clarified. "Just the most advanced technology in the base."

Too terrified from the threat to speak, he simply pointed to a door nearby. Blake narrowed her eyes. There was no way it was that simple or easy. Likely, he was low in the ranks and was realizing how out of depth he was. The room was probably one full of soldiers and — she suddenly felt an odd excitement. It wasn't her own. Turning, Blake saw Neo had flung the door open. Was this — was she feeling Neo's emotions? Would sensing be a better word? Is this how Jaune could understand her?

She brushed it off. That would be a conversation for later. Entering the room, Blake saw tables covered in scattered papers and boxes piled up around. Approaching one and sliding the sheets around, she couldn't help but wonder who had failed in their job of cleaning it. Upon closer inspection, they were documents, and several of them. If they had been in a neat stack, they would have piled at least a foot high. That being said, most looked insignificant. There were reports about supplies, ship movements, and even holidays. Her hand passed over one about food supplies and it gave her pause. It may have been a base full of marines, but was that many zeros needed for a food budget?

Giving up, she was about to tell Neo that there clearly weren't any electronics when something caught her eye. Beneath the scattered papers, standing out due to its pristine condition, was a simple manila envelope. The name on the front made her take it: James Ironwood.

"I found something!" Blake hissed, turning around.

Neo blinked in response. She would likely have gestured something if her hands had not been full of scroll chargers and a large, brand new PlayBox. In the back corner, the boxes had been carelessly thrown around to reveal a safe hidden under them all. Blake felt her eye twitch.

"Whoa!" Jaune and Ruby were in sync, circling their newfound treasure. With her arms crossed and her head held high, Neo looked utterly victorious. Across the way, the other half of the crew were sulking. Ren was sipping tea and using his semblance. Blake's face had not changed since Neo found the damn thing. Cardin was distracting himself by working out. He had taken two maces and tied them together to make a dumbbell and then did it again so he had two.

"Is this how you felt back at Beacon?" Ren asked Blake. She nodded, too tired to even complain. "Then I apologize. I'd call this retribution, but you're as much a victim as I am." It almost made him wish he had the palate for something stronger — perhaps sake.

Cardin's weights were set on the floor as he got up and stretched. "Well, I'm going to get us out of here." He waved lazily while walking to the cockpit. "The witch's magic can only keep them there so long."

Ren agreed. "You're right. We're not that far and we don't want them chasing us."

Blake pulled out the envelope she found and tucked it under her arm. "I have something to talk to Jaune about. Keep our heading and we'll be fine; I'll call if something happens." Letting the other two go, Blake approached the group and cleared her throat. When they turned to her, Blake said, "I have something you should look at, captain." She addressed him with a hint of sarcasm that was meant to show he was being a bit immature. She didn't miss how his cheeks grew slightly pink at it.

Jaune took the envelope and his eyes widened. "What is this? Some sort of top secret document?" Flipping it over, he searched for something that might label it as such. "This is really cool, but why did you take it?"

The question took Blake off guard. "We're pirates, so having papers from the enemy is important, is it not?" Ignoring Ruby declaring that they weren't enemies, just official frenemies, Blake shrugged it off.

"I guess," Jaune mused, getting ready to open it. "I just don't see the point. If it's about us, sure we would want that, but what's the use if it's not? What if it's just some long political thing about Ironwood not liking the Vale council or something?"

"I was just curious." Blake's cat ears twitched. Silence fell. Thank goodness Yang wasn't — "Don't you start, Neo!" Blake jabbed a finger at the mute woman. "I had enough of this at Beacon."

Ruby watched the encounter silently. It dawned on her that she was the only one not to understand; what that meant was Blake could understand Neo the way Jaune could. There went her theories of his semblance being something psychic.

Jaune decided that instead of beating a dead horse, he would just take what they had. The envelope opened and its contents were revealed to be a large stack of papers. Bound together with a single staple, it appeared to be some sort of manual. It was full of text, most Jaune merely skimmed over. Then he reached the drawings. He almost dropped the papers at what he saw. Sketched out were the schematics of a building he had seen before. These were blueprints.

Ruby, who had craned over his arms to look, said what he was thinking. "CCT? We could have both a PlayBox and internet!"

"We're supposed to be pirates, right?" Blake lamented.

The sound of shattered glass echoed from within the floating restaurant. Screams came from inside and falling feet rumbled on the wood as the customers rushed out. In the midst of the fear and chaos, Yang grinned widely. The crowd's frightened chant about pirates was music to her ears. Well, in that it meant she could fight the crooks and save the day.

"Let's get going!" Yang cheered. Nora followed along, whooping as she brandished her hammer. They tumbled triumphantly forward like a blur of yellow, white, ginger, and pink — yes, pink. Although Team PWNY were now all in their marine uniforms, Nora's did not meet standard. Supposedly, she had, on accident, thrown in a red cloth with the uniform in the laundry. Being well aware of her friend's supplies, Pyrrha was sure it wasn't any red clothing, but rather the bottle of liquid Nora suddenly came into possession of — the one labeled 'not dye.' After the incident, Nora, and a multitude of marine soldiers, now had a much more Nora uniform.

With all that in mind, Pyrrha felt bad for the customers. Some criminal was inside causing trouble and in barges a crazed looking girl with a sadistic grin next to a ball of pink with a bone-crushing hammer. Even so, she did nothing to stop them. At first, she had been a bit stiff about their attitudes. Sure, they could still be themselves and have fun, but they had a job to do. Now it was a bit different, mainly that the boredom was reaching to her as well.

She and Weiss finally breached the door after their teammates to view what was going on. It was — not quite what she expected. All across the restaurant, people were running in circles. Who she assumed to be pirates were running table-to-table, many carrying large bags that clanked as they went. The chefs of the restaurant, who she expected to be cowering and waiting for help, were chasing the culprits. In all honesty, the only way she could distinguish the two parties was that the chefs were wearing aprons. Finally, amidst all the chasing around them, the civilians were searching for the fastest way to exit the fray.

Weiss gasped sharply. In a moment, Pyrrha's guard was up, tracing her new partner's gaze. There, toward the center of the room, was a young boy. His foot was planted on a table, the other on a chair behind him. His fist was raised as if some rallying symbol to those around him. The white hair on his head whipped wildly as he spun it around, taking in the events with his blue eyes. It gave him a bit of a crazed look, emphasized with the sophisticated looking vest and slacks Pyrrha would not have said befit for a pirate.

She wondered what Weiss had seen to react that way, but then Weiss shouted. "Whitley?" In a moment, the prim and proper young lady had forgotten all sense of composure. Then the boy, Whitley, turned to face them.

His grin widened as he leaped from the table, stumbling in his not-so-elegant landing. Straightening himself, dusting off his shirt, and wobbling slightly, he grinned wildly at Weiss. "Why hello there! Bi—" He coughed, cutting himself off. "No, not that. Here — woman-person. Ha! Now that is demeaning and humiliating. You see, it forms — oh shit!" A cook flew past him, having tried to tackle the boy only for Whitley to trip at the same time.

"Whitley," Weiss repeated, this time through gritted teeth. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

He laughed at her, holding his arms up like he was glorifying the ceiling. "Whatever I want, Sister!"

"Sister?" Yang whispered back to them. After Weiss took the helm, they had huddled together behind her. Pyrrha shrugged and Nora was saying something about real-life soap operas.

"Just look, Weiss." Whitley spun around. "I can do anything now! I'm stealing all the salt!"

Weiss' anger vanished, replaced by perplexion. "Salt?"

Whitley turned back to her. "Yes! Father would never let me have enough." The amount of venom in the statement gave Pyrrha a double take. "He always claimed that I was being wasteful and that the food was good enough. Now, Father can't stop me and I can have all the salt I want! This is the freedom of piracy!"

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. The more her brother spoke, the more she began to notice a certain thing in his voice. "Whitley, are you drunk?"

The boy laughed. Pyrrha guessed he might be trying to sound like a mastermind, but it really was like the giggle Ruby made when she managed to take someone else's cookie. "I might be," he said, the slur very present. "Father would be so upset?"

"I think your brother might need some professional help." Yang muttered. Weiss' heated glare said that it was none of her business.

With a large huff, Weiss marched forward. She pinched his ear and started to drag him out of the building. Flailing his arms, he let out an incessant stream of complaints to let her know exactly what he thought of this; however, it seemed that a drunk Whitley was no match for Weiss.

The issue was that Whitley wasn't alone. "Salt screen!" One of the various pirates had opened a salt shaker and flung the contents directly at Weiss' face. Pyrrha felt the shift first, falling into a battle stance and charging. They were caught flat-footed from the sheer mundanity of the situation. One moment, an older sister was reprimanding a younger brother; the next, there was salt.

Whitley was dragged by his collar out the door and attempted to form a rude gesture with his hand. It looked more like a broken peace sign. Team PWNY began falling behind as the sea of pirates crowded the only exit. Once outside, they saw that the young boy was already aboard his ship. It was a short distance, but their target was already undocking as his crew jumped onto their ship.

Not wanting to lose them, Pyrrha gave in to the powers she was trying to avoid. It tingled oddly as her thighs grew in muscle, feet hardened, and face elongated. She charged, catching close to the end of the crowd and launched herself.

The arc of her jump was clean and perfect, just enough to make it. "Salt shot!" The pirate hadn't even bothered to open the salt shaker, opting to chuck the entire thing at her head. With a moment's hesitation, her hand failed to reach the boat and she plummeted into the dark sea.

Hours later, wrapped in a blanket and hiding her face from the others, Pyrrha wished she had simply sunk. Not only did they fail, but there had been a cameraman on their own crew. His job was to take photos for bounties. After Whitley Schnee's bounty poster was made, the same newspaper revealed an image the cameraman had taken of her. It was made to paint her in a good light as an up and coming leader of a marine team. What it showed was her humiliating devil fruit powers.

"Man," Yang said, plopping down in a chair. "They got away with a-salt-ing two of our team members. They seemed to know what they were doing though. Our mane," Yang motioned to the back of her neck, "girl got outpaced by Weiss' lame brother." She looked around, waiting for a response. "Like a lame horse?"

"D'Arc or Xiao Long," Weiss muttered to herself. "I honestly don't know which has more sanity left."

AN:

I have a friend that I got into One Piece. I've been rewatching it with him and he's finally just gotten to Whole Cake Island last night. That's the main reason this didn't go up yesterday.

I had way too much fun writing Whitley and his crew in this chapter. The initial idea was just for it to be some insignificant thing that was him being more of a rebellious teen than a pirate. My friend helping with this liked the salt thing so much that it sort of continued into his character…

At this point, Ruby may very well be the most dangerous on the crew. Silver eyes can be dangerous to more than grimm if wielded right. Crocodile tears help.

Anyways, next chapter: Planning